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Worlds of Design

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Worlds of Design 
Worlds of Design: Too Much Dice?
Game designers: You don’t need bucketsful of dice in your RPG rules!
Worlds of Design 
Worlds of Design: What’s Your Objective?
What is that game supposed to actually DO for the players?
Worlds of Design 
Worlds of Design: Combat Tactics
These tactics might save your character’s life
Worlds of Design 
Worlds of Design: The Lost Art of Being Lost
If you’ve played tabletop RPGs long enough, you’ve probably been in an adventure where your party got lost. Yet it’s much less likely to happen nowadays.
Worlds of Design 
Worlds of Design: Leveling vs. Training
We previously covered why training systems were abandoned in D&D. Here's what replaced it.
Worlds of Design 
Worlds of Design: The Price of Advancement
In AD&D, there was a training requirement to advancement that didn’t reflect how people actually learn. In this column I’ll talk about how the real world works in this context.
Worlds of Design 
Worlds of Design: Golden Rules for RPGs
There are several Golden Rules, really. These are my three for role-playing games.
Worlds of Design 
Worlds of Design: Building a Structural Framework
Years ago I devised a framework that can be applied to “all” games, to help aspiring designers of board and card games. Let’s see how it applies to RPGs.
Worlds of Design 
Worlds of Design: How Big is Your Army?
For those who prefer "realistic" numbers in RPGs: Inflated numbers of combatants for battles litter history books, derived from wildly inaccurate contemporary histories. We can do much better in figuring out actual numbers.
Worlds of Design 
Worlds of Design: Spelljammer 2.0
As a big fan of the old Spelljammer, I really wanted to like the new 5e version. But it doesn’t fix some of the problems of the old version.
Worlds of Design 
Worlds of Design: Lost in Translation
Adaptations of any fiction from one medium to another tend to suffer from unnecessary changes, including tabletop role-playing games. Unfortunately, what’s necessary and unnecessary is often a matter of opinion.
Worlds of Design 
Worlds of Design: Are You Consistent?
Like sports fans, RPGers want consistency of GMs rulings. This is both in the “meta” mode, what characters do aside from adventures, and adventures mode.
Worlds of Design 
Worlds of Design: The Great Dichotomies of RPGs
A few years ago for an online course about strategic wargame design I devised a list of about a dozen dichotomies between warfare and games. The paradox of wargames is that warfare and games are polar opposites! After writing some 150 “Worlds of Design” columns I decided to do the same for RPGs, relying in part on some of my columns.
Worlds of Design 
Worlds of Design: The Nature of Armies
If you’re building a full-scale world for your campaign, that will likely involve armies. Let’s discuss what happens in the real world so that you can avoid straining the disbelief of your players.
Worlds of Design 
Worlds of Design: RPG Gods - Benign or Malign?
Most RPG settings have some form of godhood. Yet there are some age-old questions that come into play as you create religions.
Worlds of Design 
Worlds of Design: Imposter Syndrome
What is “Imposter Syndrome?” It’s a common problem for “creatives.” In RPGs it primarily applies to game designers, but some homebrew GMs will also recognize it.

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Reviews

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Play a vampire and kill nazis in WW2!
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Play To Lose Yourself In The Zone
You won't survive this tragedy of doomed heroes!
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Parsley Turns Classic Adventure Games Into Fun For Everyone
A new spin on a retro form of text adventure games.
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Use This Ghost To Show Off The World Of Old Gods
A one-shot adventure which evokes the generational horror of Stephen King.

Dungeons & Dragons

Dungeons & Dragons 
More Adventurer Corpses But Not Their Loot
Possibly the most ecologically-friendly Intriguing Organization yet.
Dungeons & Dragons  Video Games 
Dungeons & Dragons Monster Joining Dead by Daylight
Beholder may be the next killer in the multiplayer horror video game
Dungeons & Dragons  Industry 
Kobold Press' Black Flag System Reference Document Released
Developer tool released under Open RPG Creator (ORC) License.
Dungeons & Dragons  Miniatures 
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A WizKids miniature reveals the iconic character's face for the first time.
Dungeons & Dragons  Industry 
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SRD 5.2 will be released under Creative Commons next year.
Dungeons & Dragons 
Obsessive Dwarven Adventurer Seeks Rivals
Garr is obsessed with proving that he’s better at it than you are—no matter what it is.

Industry News

Dungeons & Dragons  Industry 
Kobold Press' Black Flag System Reference Document Released
Developer tool released under Open RPG Creator (ORC) License.
Dungeons & Dragons  Industry 
2024 D&D Core Rules Will Be Added To SRD In 2025
SRD 5.2 will be released under Creative Commons next year.
Dungeons & Dragons  Industry 
Field Guide to Floral Dragons Joins Million Dollar Kickstarter Club
One of only two TTRPG creators with four separate million dollar Kickstarters!
Dungeons & Dragons  Industry 
The Dungeon Dudes Notch Up Another Million Dollar Kickstarter
Passes the million dollar mark with just a day to go.
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